Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Aerospace and defense supplier Arconic on Feb. 6 suddenly appointed new leadership, the second time in as many years, and will unveil a new business strategy.

For its first mission of the year, the Ariane 5 heavy rocket has placed two telecommunications satellites into geostationary orbit.

Last year was the fourth-warmest year on record globally since 1880, independent analyses from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show.

The Qatar Emiri Air Force took delivery of its first Rafale fighter during a ceremony Feb. 6 in France.

AUSTRIA finalized order for three additional S-70 Black Hawk helicopters, bringing fleet to 12. First delivery in 2021.

The Senate Armed Services Committee will discuss the Pentagon’s fiscal 2020 authorization and Future Years Defense Program.

Syracuse Research Corp., Syracuse, New York, was awarded a $108,209,591 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Vehicle Integrated Defeat System.

GE Aviation’s subsidiary in the Czech Republic is to study the combination of its H-Series turboprops with electric drives developed by Austria’s ATB Antriebstehnik to produce propulsion systems for general aviation and urban air mobility.

The U.S. Army says it has begun work to replace its fleet of Textron RQ-7 Shadow tactical unmanned air systems.

British Panavia Tornado combat aircraft have returned to the UK after 4 1/2 years of operations over Iraq and Syria.

ArianeGroup has completed the “definition review” of the Prometheus reusable engine demon and conducted the second test firing of Ariane 6’s strap-on booster.

Britain’s defense ministry is conducting studies that will ultimately influence the shape of the country’s future support helicopter fleet.

Russian S-300 missiles in Syria may be fully operational by March, according to Israelis who are following the air defense system’s preparations.

Draken International deployed four Aero Vodochody L-159s to Eglin AFB, Florida, in January to expand adversary air support to East Coast bases for the first time.

A DOD IG report of aerospace and defense provider TransDigm Group has found no wrongdoing, but the DOD wants the key supplier to pay back $16 million.

NASA’s Mars InSight lander has successfully added a protective thermal and wind cover to its first deployed surface sensor.

The U.S. Navy has awarded a $41.8 million contract to B.L. Harbert International to build a hangar for the MQ-25A carrier-based unmanned refueling tanker.

India has formally taken delivery of the first of 15 Chinook CH-47F heavy-lift transport helicopters from Boeing.

Boeing has made a "significant investment" in supersonic business-jet developer Aerion to accelerate development of its Mach 1.4 AS2.

The first test of the methane-burning Raptor rocket engine marks a key step toward the start of flight tests of SpaceX's multipurpose, interplanetary-class space transportation system.

Leonardo has quietly started batch assembly of production-standard AW609 commercial tiltrotors.

Vivek Lall is vice president of strategy and business development at Lockheed Martin, leading the company’s effort to sell the F-16 Block 60 to India.

A liquid hydrogen-powered unmanned multicopter flew continuously for 10 hr., 50 min. in South Korea on Jan. 23, setting a new endurance record.

With the Marine Corps CH-53K from Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky going into initial production, and some “strategic programs”—likely including the Air Force B-21 from Northrop Grumman—heating up, Spirit expects to continue growing its defense-related business.

Startup company Jaunt Air Mobility has acquired the rights to Carter Aviation Technologies’ slowed-rotor compound (SR/C) concept.